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Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the effects of grade level and gender on the process of foreign language learning among high school students. The participants were 125 male (69.7%) and 81 female (39.3%) high school students attending different grades in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The research showed that there is a statistically significant difference between female and male students in the process of foreign language learning, with males experiencing more difficulties in the process. On the other hand, the analysis indicated that grade level does not have a significant effect on foreign language learning, as the students of all grades seemed to encounter similar difficulties in the process. The Pearson correlation coefficient was also measured and it showed a positive correlation between the impact of foreign language learning on the mother tongue and foreign language learning motivation, on the one hand, and the impact of foreign language learning on the mother tongue and the difficulties in using the target language, on the other hand. This paper may be beneficial to any researcher in the field as foreign language learning, English language learning in particular, is rising in its importance in the Bosnian context, where the number of educational institutions in which English is the medium of instruction increases. Thus, research into the difficulties arising in the process should be one of the main aims of language instructors striving to facilitate the process of foreign language learning.

The Relationship between Learning Styles, GPA, School Level and Gender

“…Learning is a fundamental part of our life that is essentially based on personal experience, practice, abilities, and approaches (Bećirović, Sinanovic, 2016). Although it has long been recognised that the learning progress is greatly influenced by the learning style students apply, and that successful teachers utilise methods which correspond to the particular learning style of their students Delić, Bećirović, 2018;Felder, Silverman, 1988), there is an ongoing debate on the determination and classification of learning styles.…”

“…Therefore, this study focuses on the three most common learning styles, namely visual, auditory, and tactile. Students are unique individuals, which means that they all learn in their own personal ways that are influenced by their preferences (Delić, Bećirović, 2018). Some students learn visually, while others prefer auditory or tactile approaches.…”

“…Individuals should be encouraged to use their preferred learning styles. Hence, in order to be able to carry out appropriate tasks and activities and thus, enhance students' learning outcomes, it is essential that every teacher understands the differences and characteristics of learning styles as well as individual differences existing among the students, such as gender, age, grade level, grade point average and others, which have been shown to impact the learning process, the language learning process in particular Delić et al, 2018), and the employment of different strategies likewise, learning strategies in general (Brdarević-Čeljo, Asotić, 2017) and reading strategies in particular Bećirović et al, 2018), which, as research has indicated, also lead to more successful learning (Alexander, Jetton, 2000).…”

Opportunities and Challenges Facing Bosnian High-School EFL Learners

“…With the largest number of second or foreign-language speakers in the world (Simons, Fennig, 2018) and that is 1.6 billion (Crystal, 2012(Crystal, , 2015, English is certainly the most dominant language in different foreign language contexts. It is thus taught as a foreign language all over the world through formal education and different courses in foreign language schools, starting from kindergartens to elementary and secondary schools and then being also one of the obligatory or elective courses at various universities.…”

The Plasticity of Students’ Language Learning Beliefs: The Interplay of Gender, Grade and Educational Level

“…Therefore, this study aims to provide a more detailed analysis by taking into consideration three different variables that may be determinative in the construction of LLBs; namely, gender, educational level, and grades of students in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite different studies related to the process of EFL learning having been conducted in this sociocultural context, such as the studies measuring the impact of diverse factors on students' English language proficiency as well as the proficiency itself (Brdarević-Čeljo et al, 2018;Delić et al, 2018;Habibić & Dubravac, 2016;Kovačević et al, 2018;Rizvić & Bećirović, 2017) and their use of learning/reading strategies Brdarević-Čeljo & Asotić, 2017;Tankosić & Dubravac, 2016), studies exploring learners' LLBs are quite rare. Thus, one of the studies explored the state of LLBs among high-school students (Ozturk & Turkyilmaz, 2014), another one investigating the correlation between the beliefs and language learning strategies (Akbarov & Kovačević, 2015), and finally, the relationship between LLBs and the complexity of syntactic structures used by language learners (Kovačević, 2017).…”